Clifford L. Hughes was born March 11, 1937 at Youngstown, Ohio. He dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen; he joined the United States Marine Corp at age seventeen. At age twenty-nine he served his first tour of combat duty in South Vietnam: he served is second tour at age thirty- three. In 1973 he retired from the Marine Corps a Gunnery Sergeant. In 1979 he graduated from Fullerton College, Fullerton, California with an Associates of Arts degree. After his retirement he managed several restaurants and sold real estate as licensed California Real Estate Broker. He has been married twice; he has one son three stepdaughters and four grandchildren. He has been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; he has written this collection of poetry to help him understand this disease.